Dover Grammar School for Boys
THE "FIRST THURSDAY"
NEWSLETTER
Dover Grammar School for Boys
THE "FIRST THURSDAY"
NEWSLETTER NOV 1999 No. 64
GCSE PRESENTATIONS - Tuesday 2nd November
Prizes, Records of Achievements and GCSE Certificates were presented to the 1999
cohort of Year 11 at a ceremony held after school in the Great Hall. Mr Robin
Terry, Old Pharosian, Director of London Fancy Box and school governor was
principal guest and as well as presenting the various prizes he also spoke about
his own school days and experiences. As usual the audience was entertained by a
variety of music under the direction of Mr Richard Davies, Director of Music,
including work by the Jazz Group, a piano solo by Fabian Trevelyan and some
(very loud) rock music played by Kanister a band, made up mostly from students
in that year.
Mr G Falconer - Senior Teacher
YEAR 10 HISTORY TRIP - 21st October
We had an early start to the day and caught our coach at 7.35am and headed for
the port. The boat ride was a little rough but we were on time. As soon as we
disembarked at Calais we headed straight for the Somme area. Our first stop was
Delville Wood. We arrived at around midday and had lunch there. We first visited
the Delville Wood cemetery and studied all of the burial stones.
The next stop was close by at the South African Museum in the Delville Wood.
Along with the exhibits was a single tree. It was the only tree left standing
after the battle at Delville Wood in 1916.
We pressed on to the Lochnagar Crater. This was a 22m deep mine crater left by a
British attack on the German lines.
The last area we visited was the Newfoundland Memorial Park. This was the
remains of a battlefield. It still showed good examples of what the shapes of
the trenches were like. The other features were shell craters and even an area
where sheep grazed (in the middle of this park). After studying this area we
started the journey home.
The day was a major success apart from missing the ferry home and then our coach
broke down before we left the boat to return home.
The day was very interesting and atmospheric.
Samuel Tiltman - 10PT
VISIT BY REV. NORMAN SETCHELL
On Monday 18th October we were pleased to welcome Rev. Norman Setchell of the
United Reformed Church in Dover to speak to Year 13 during their tutor period.
He addressed the issue of the refugee and asylum seeking families in Dover, and
the support his church is trying to organise for them. He spoke of how
encouraged he was by the work put in by several boys of this school as
volunteers for the Wednesday afternoon drop-in group.
He also spoke powerfully of the hostility and antagonism he had encountered from
some sections of Dover society, and of the terrible suffering some of the
refugees had suffered before reaching the UK. Several boys asked pertinent and
challenging questions and pursued a vigorous debate on the issues raised, and
everybody found Mr Setchell's address challenging and thought-provoking.
Mr M Thomas - Head of Upper School
ART TRIP TO LONDON - 17th September 1999
Year 11 and Year 13 pupils, accompanied by Mr Almond, Mr Thompson and Mrs Lloyd,
visited three major galleries. The first port of call was The Courtauld
Institute on the Strand where pupils were able to study famous works by such
artists as Monet, Van Gogh and Cézanne. As this gallery seldom gets very crowded
our pupils had no difficulty with producing detailed sketches of paintings.
For our lunch we went to McDonald's on the Strand and afterwards visited the
late rooms (French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism) at The National
Gallery, Trafalgar Square.
Our final gallery visit was to The Hayward, on the South Bank complex, to view
the extraordinary Chuck Close portraits show. Close's early work is astonishing
in its realism, based as is all his work on photographs he has taken. The early
paintings look, even close up, are just like photographs, so detailed and
meticulously executed are they. The later work is based on grids, filled in with
various marks, squiggles and colours. From a distance, these late paintings are
recognisable as portraits, but from close to they are entirely abstract. When
one considers that Chuck Close has been in a wheelchair since the early 1980s
such art is doubly impressive.
The trip was most enjoyable and we look forward to the next one. Thanks go to my
two superb colleagues for their brilliant assistance and to all our pupils
praised by staff and visitors at The Courtauld as the most polite and
hardworking school pupils they have ever come across.
Mr S Almond - Subject Leader for Art
BARNARDO'S BUSINESS SCHEME
Years 10 and 11 pupils are taking part in the Barnardo's Scheme this year, along
with 150 other schools around the country. Each school is given a £120 start-up
loan from Friends Provident and challenged to turn this into a £500 net profit.
All proceeds are donated to Barnardo's, a very worthwhile charity which works
extremely hard on behalf of children in the UK.
Years 10 and 11 will be setting up their business in the next few weeks and all
your support will be very welcome!!
YOUNG ENTERPRISE - ENTERACT LTD
Year 12 are running a Young Enterprise company this year, with Ritchie Hulks
acting as Managing Director. The business is registered as a limited company
with capital being raised through a share issue. Enteract Ltd is like any other
company in the UK and has received a Certificate of Incorporation, VAT
registration and an Insurance Certificate in order to start trading. The company
operates from October until May next year when the Kent County finals are held.
All the teams in the area will give a presentation on their business ideas and
financial affairs with the winning team going through to the Kent finals.
Plans for various ventures are well underway and all your support will be needed
to make our company a success.
Miss T Shafi - Subject Leader for Economics & Business Studies
MUSIC
On Wednesday 13th October the school's musicians presented the Autumn Concert in
conjunction with the Governing Body's Annual Parents' Meeting for 1999. During
the interval between the meeting and the concert the audience enjoyed
refreshments served by the PFA after which a varied musical programme included
performances by the Training Band, Jazz Group, Brass Ensemble and Big Band
interspersed with a variety of solo items. These included the virtuosic Concerto
for Two Trumpets by Vivaldi played by Michael Quinn and Trevor Lynes, piano
music by Mendelssohn played by Xavier Taylor and organ solos from both Mr
Baldock and Mr Davies.
The school's musicians also presented music at the Year 11 Prizegiving ceremony
on Tuesday 2nd November which featured performances by the Jazz Group, Kanister
and a piano solo by music prizewinner Fabian Trevelyan. The term will close with
the annual Service of Nine Lessons and Carols by Candlelight to be sung by the
School Choir with Brass Ensemble and organ on Wednesday 15th December at 8.00
pm.
Mr R S Davies - Director of Music
WORK EXPERIENCE
One of the placements which the school values particularly within the Work
Experience Scheme co-ordinated by Mrs Saville is that at Boots the Chemists in
Dover. In recent times the store has accepted three of our Year 10 students each
year and the school has built up good relations with the Manager, Mr Alan
Elcocks. Recently the Dover Store was awarded a Kent Education Business
Partnership Quality Award in recognition of the standard of their Work
Experience Programme and our three students who completed their placements there
in April 1999 - Siad Alwan, James Eberlein and David Collins - were invited to
attend the Award Ceremony on Thursday 21st October which you may have seen
featured in the local papers.
Mr R S Davies - Head of Middle School
PARENTS' AND FRIENDS' ASSOCIATION
We thank all those who supported the Wine and Wisdom evening which raised more
than £380.
Second-hand uniform will be on sale at the Year 7 Parents' Evening on Wednesday
24th November. And don't forget that uniform is available from the school office
every Tuesday and Thursday after school.
You will soon be receiving Christmas draw tickets. We hope you will support the
school by buying some of the tickets for yourselves and selling some to your
family and friends. The draw will take place on 15th December.
We will be holding another Wine and Wisdom evening in February and a Barn Dance
in March. You will receive details nearer the time.
The next committee meeting will be held on Tuesday 18th January at 7.30 pm.
Mrs J Tutthill - Chairman
PFA 200 Club
The results of the September and October 200 Club draw are as follow:
Sept. 1st Mr & Mrs Hughes (23) £25, 2nd Mr & Mrs McCaughey (185) £15, 3rd Mr A
Husk (73) £10.
Oct. 1st Mrs S Chivington (199) £25, 2nd Mrs A Close (109) £15, 3rd Mrs M
Hargrave (134) £10.
We would welcome any new members to the 200 Club so if anyone is interested
please contact Paula Brown by letter via the school office (or see me at the
Year 7 Parents' Evening on 24th November).
Mrs P Brown - 200 Club Secretary
OLD PHAROSIANS
More old boys of the school have joined the Old Pharosians' Association during
the past few weeks, among them a couple of dads who came to the prospective
pupils evening with their sons. Are there any other fathers of present pupils
who used to attend this school and have not yet joined the association?
Membership forms are available from the school office, and the annual
subscription is only £5.
News continues to be received about former pupils of the school for the next
edition of the OPA newsletter, due to be published in January. We were sorry to
hear that Richard Couchman, who was at the school from 1958 to 1963 was among
those seriously injured in the Paddington train crash. A message of support has
been sent to him in hospital by the Old Pharosians' Association President, the
Rev. John Philpott.
The next committee meeting is on Tuesday 9th November at 7.00 pm.
Mr G Tutthill - Assistant Secretary
SPECTACLE COLLECTION
Many thanks for the excellent response to our appeal in the last newsletter for
old spectacles to send to Vision Aid Overseas.
There's still time to send in unwanted spectacles to the School Office as we
will be sending off our collection towards the end of term.
Mrs J Luckhurst - School Secretary
CCF
A successful October has seen cadets from the CCF undertake a tough but
rewarding leadership course during half term. Whilst on the course cadets took
part in leadership tasks, lectures, Method of Instruction and Physical Training
amongst other things. The course was attended by other cadet units from all over
Britain, however it was L/Cpl Victoria Blanchflower, from our cadet unit who
walked away with best overall cadet on the junior course.
6th October saw the CCF at Hythe Ranges attending the annual range day. Other
shooting days have been attended by the unit including a national competition at
Ash Ranges, Surrey.
The CCF is looking forward to being represented on Remembrance Sunday, 14th
November, in Dover town centre.
Congratulations to the RAF section who came within the top five at the Southern
Counties Ground Training Competition, winning the drill aspect of the
competition.
New cadets continue to participate in the Contingent's activities on a weekly
basis. If you are interested in joining please visit the CCF hut any weekday
lunchtime for more information.
RSM Ryan Parmenter - Contingent Senior Cadet
CHRISTMAS LUNCH
The Christmas Lunch this year is to be served on Wednesday 15th December in the
School Canteen. Arrangements are slightly different in that tickets costing
£2.50 per person will be on sale from Monday 8th November until Friday 19th
November inclusive. This new procedure will have the twofold advantage of
providing exact numbers to be catered for and speeding up the flow of pupils
through the Dining Hall allowing the various sittings to be served on time.
Please note that because of the popularity of our Christmas fare admission to
the Canteen on that day will be strictly by ticket or free school meal token
only.
Mrs M Pardoe - Finance Officer
SPORTS NEWS
Football - 1st XI Match Reports written by Mr Bailey
Saturday 9th October
Dover G.S. 5 Norton Knatchbull 0
A good result against an "under-strength" Norton Knatchbull side. There was
little dispute about the result after we took the lead with NK more concerned
with damage limitation - in fact they played five at the back and conceded the
midfield to us. We found their defence difficult to break down but still totally
dominated the first half.
With Kevin Doughty winning virtually every header and loose ball it was
surprising that we didn't gain more clear chances, but when Ben Mackenzie scored
with a fine opportunist effort it looked as if we would score at will. NK
responded well by dropping their star striker into midfield and closing us down
in every move. We still dominated the game with the NK goalkeeper keeping his
side in the game with several fine saves but as we couldn't score NK gained in
confidence and even hit out crossbar with a long range speculative shot. They
forced a couple of corners and we began to panic a little. Two substitutes,
Terry Tingey and Steven Key, came on to replace Ben Mackenzie and Chris Stanford
(both had good games) and within a minute Terry "popped up" at the far post to
convert after fine work by Jason Laird. As the team relaxed Kevin Doughty drove
through the middle to score the third with aplomb, and we could even have had a
fourth when Jason Laird was clean through only to be judged offside rather
harshly.
Generally it was a good performance and it was good to see the front runners
starting to move better and looking more positive; and pleasing to see the
contribution made by Adrian Bailes - we obviously missed him last week.
Wednesday 13th October
Dover G.S. 0 Borden G.S. 1
A bad day at the office! This was never going to be an easy game against
unbeaten Borden but we really didn't perform anywhere near our usual standard,
especially in the second half. Defensively we did well but the midfield was
disjointed and our attack ineffectual during the last twenty minutes when we
should have been chasing the game. Clearly several players were carrying
injuries or were "under the weather" but the way we declined and the lack of
desire was real cause for concern. I hate losing but too many of the team seemed
not to care - THIS MUST CHANGE!
The bumpy pitch made flowing football difficult but Borden had more ideas than
we did and our defence was at full stretch for much of the first half and Christ
Wash had his best game so far in goal. Nevertheless with the score at 0-0 at
half time I thought that we would pull through in the second half. Borden took
the lead from a corner where we failed to clear our lines and the ball fell
kindly to Borden's centre back. We must work on our defensive strategies from
corners. It turned out to be the only goal of the game but the Borden keeper had
a very easy last 30 minutes and it was more likely that Borden would increase
their lead.
We will need to raise our game for the County Cup match against the same
opposition.
Friday 15th October 2nd Round of the County Cup
Borden G.S. 0 Dover G.S. 1
A very good result following a hard fought match against Borden who were missing
several of their best players. We can only play the team that turns out against
us and we were missing Neil Brinicombe, Luke Stockdale and Sam Gibbons. Darren
Piper went off after 20 minutes and so I suppose we were under strength as well!
The best thing about this result was that we played more as a team, didn't give
up and when things didn't go our way, persevered. A big improvement on
Wednesday.
The defence played very well again and, when they were breached, Chris Wash
looked unbeatable. His kicking has also improved and put the opposition under
considerable pressure with his high drop kicks. The midfield battled manfully
against rugged tackling and Ben Mackenzie and Jason Laird always looked
dangerous up front. We came close to taking the lead on several occasions
particularly when the Borden keeper made a fine save from a header from Dean
Scoggins.
The breakthrough came 10 minutes from time. Adam Stennett, making his 1st XI
debut, had replaced injured Chris Stanford and caused the Borden defence many
problems by harrying them at every opportunity. He won a penalty when the
defender tracking him fell over and handled the ball on the ground under
pressure from Adam. Ben Mackenzie stepped up and blasted and penalty into the
centre of the goal as the keeper dived out of the way! There were no alarms in
the last 10 minutes - in fact Chris Wash didn't have a save to make in the
second half.
Wednesday 20th October
Simon Langton 0 Dover G.S. 3
A great result from our best performance of the season. On a bumpy sloping pitch
with a cold biting wind we started to move the ball smoothly through midfield
especially in the second half. Langton had some good individual players but we
outplayed them in midfield and looked a better balanced team - I felt that
Langton defended too deeply giving our five midfield players more room.
Chris Wash had an excellent game and, apart from pushing out one corner when he
might have caught it, looked unbeatable. When he plays so well it gives the
defence confidence and David Edwards also had an outstanding game against
Langton's Gillingham striker. We took the lead in bizarre circumstances when the
Langton defence stopped playing, presumably thinking that Sam Gibbons was
offside and their goalkeeper miskicked his clearance straight to Sam who calmly
sidefooted into the empty net. I am very pleased that Sam scored in his last
game for the team - we will miss his cheerfulness and ability!
Chris Wash made a couple of good saves, one memorably from a header which he
expertly caught and then just before half time we went 2 - 0 up with our best
goal so far. The ball was moved up our left side, Adrian Bailes knocked it first
time into Sam who volleyed it to Ben Mackenzie who turned sharply from his
marker and half volleyed past their keeper before he could move.
Langton put us under pressure for a while at the beginning of the second half
but our defence held well and for a 20 minute spell we passed the ball around
and probably should have scored before Ben Mackenzie increased the lead. Sam was
played through by Jason Laird and narrowly missed.
Overall it was a fine performance and a well deserved result.
2nd XI Match Reports written by Matthew Fisher
Wednesay 13th October
Dover G.S. 1 Borden 4
After travelling for 50 minutes in the minibus it took a while for the team to
warm up and the first twenty minutes saw an unsettled Dover side concede three
early goals. After this the team began to form and saw opportunities becoming
available. The first half ended with neither team having any more goals, with
Mike Turner having the closest attempt, only to be superbly saved.
At the half time interval morale was kept high and a strategical rearrangement
was made. With Matt Fisher being the first sub off Dave Turgoose came on to
strengthen the mid-field. It was a difficult game to overcome the strength and
height of the Borden side, however Steve Key connected with a surging free kick
and managing to score from an 'impossible' angle. Borden didn't give up the
fight and managed to put another goal away leaving the final score 4-1. Although
everyone played well the man of the match has to go to Steve Key for his effort
and determination to score an amazing goal.
Wednesday 20th October
Dover G.S. 2 Maidstone G.S. 1
On a bright and sweltering afternoon DGSB produced their first victory of the
season ……. just.
The first half was largely dominated by Dover attacks with in-form striker Steve
Key unlucky that his shot which rebounded off post, goalie and crossbar and
crossed the line at least twice not given by the Harvey linesman (hmmm). This
didn't seem to affect us too much and after 15 minutes Dan Trenowden rose
'salmon-like' at the far post to power home a header from a corner.
As with previous games we didn't take charge of the match and seemed content
with maintaining our slender lead against an increasingly dirty side. The rest
of the half saw Harvey get a couple of chances but saw Dover create chances due
to runs from Sam Gibbons and James Kearns which rocked the Harvey defence.
The second half saw pretty much the same story, but with the withdrawal of Craig
Ruffles due to injury and players tiring the game stretched and Harvey were able
to create more chances. One of these, ten minutes before the end saw a scrappy
goal, leaving us wondering if the same thing as last week would happen. It
looked as if it might get worse as Harvey surged forward only to be thwarted by
Mike Sterrow. This week however we were able to ride our luck and after a
scramble in our box we were able to counter attack at speed. With only two
minutes left James Kearns was able to latch on to a cross, with a shot that the
goalie could only parry into the top corner for his second goal in two games.
Fixtures
1st XI Football
November - Wed. 10th -v- Queen Elizabeth G.S. (A). Wed. 17th -v- Astor (H). Wed.
24th -v- Oakwood Park G.S. (A). Sat. 27th -v- Harvey G.S. (A).
December - Wed. 1st -v- Tunbridge Wells G.S. (H).
2nd XI Football
November - Sat. 13th 10.30 am Under 19 Cup -v- Maidstone G.S. (H). Wed 10th -v-
Queen Elizabeth G.S. (H). Wed. 17th -v- Dover College (A). Wed. 24th -v- Norton
Knatchbull (H).
December - Wed. 1st -v- Tunbridge Wells G.S. (A)
Table Tennis
All registered players in the league who have played in matches and who have not
already paid their subs MUST pay before the end of November please. Payment of
£5.00 should be paid to me.
Match results:
Darryl Borello of Grammar 'E' beat Bob Tomlins of Fire Brigade 'A'
15:21 25:23 21:14
Chris Leach of Grammar 'E' narrowly lost to Mick Christie of Fire Brigade 'A'
22:20 16:21 19:21
Michael Marsh of Grammar 'F' beat Alan Wood of Dover Harbour Board 'B'
Paul Skelton - Workshop Technician
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Please note that Year 7 Parents' Evening (Form Tutors only) has been changed
from Tuesday 16th November to Wednesday 24th November.
